Three Is A Magic Number?

In 1987, I went to Santiago in Chile for an audit training. I had barely arrived at the hotel when I felt the floor shake. It lasted less than 5 seconds and I wondered what kind of powerful machine could do that. Well, it turned out that the "powerful machine" was a 5.7 earthquake with an epicenter some 60 miles (97 km) south of the capital. It was odd, not scary. Something else was scary, though: at the time, the infamous Pinochet military dictatorship, in power since the 1973 coup that ousted Salvador Allende, still ruled Chile and soldiers armed with rifles peppered many streets in Santiago. Pinochet's regime dissolved Congress, suppressed political parties, prohibited virtually all political activity, and persecuted dissidents, with around 3,000 people gone "missing", 35,000 tortured and 200,000 exiled during the regime's 17-year rule.

I returned in 1989, again for work, and monumental changes had taken place. A plebiscite the year before to vote on a new eight-year presidential term for Pinochet rejected the extension, and presidential elections were scheduled for December 1989. This time, no armed soldiers in the streets, no earthquake (at least none that I could feel). But, as fate would have it, I got some sort of stomach bug and spent a good part of a weekend sick in bed.

This year, I was hoping that Chile would offer something more welcoming than earthquakes, armed soldiers or stomach bugs. We headed to Torres Del Paine national park in the Chilean Patagonia and here is what Frommer's had to say about it: "This is not the easiest of national parks to visit. The climate in the park can be abominable, with wind speeds that can peak at 100 mph (161 km/h), and rain and snow even in the middle of summer." What was I thinking? And getting to the park is not easy either: it takes a 4-hour flight from Santiago plus a 4- to 5-hour drive on the aptly named Road of the End of the World (Ruta del Fin del Mundo).

The park is best explored on foot and the most popular hiking route is the W circuit, an almost 50-mile (80 km) trek, usually done in 4 or 5 days. Due to time constraints and doubts about current fitness levels, we did a U trek, alternating days of extensive hiking (over 11 miles or 18 km) with days of short hikes (less than 3 miles or 5 km). The start was promising: we set out on an 8-hour trek to the Torres lookout in a warm sunny morning that brought to mind an Icelandic saying - "The sun shines on those whom the gods love". I was elated. But mountains create their own weather: about one hour into the hike, it started to rain and didn't stop for the next 6 hours. Nice thing when you are trying to climb 2,465 ft (750m) so I guess we're not high on the gods' list. And I am not going to mince words: the last half mile (~ 800m) of that trail is misery! It will take one hour to cover the distance because you have to scramble over boulders. At some point, you look up at the endless boulders ahead and ask yourself: "Is this worth it? Will my misery pay off?" I'd say, definitely! You will be greeted by the park's symbol, the Torres del Paine, three gigantic granite monoliths that overlook an emerald pool and soar 9,350 ft (2,850m) above sea level. And while the Torres are the park's greatest hit, they are just a glimpse of the wonders on display: looming peaks, glaciers, azure lakes, roaring rivers, emerald forests, herds of guanacos, frequent rainbows. Most things in Torres del Paine are on a massive scale, and they make you feel very small, not a bad thing in our self-centered age.

The weather was tricky during our stay, cloudy on most days with only occasional rays of sun. And on our last day in the park, when we were on one of the easy trails along a beach, the wind arrived. Not the abominable 100 mph but a "mild" 25 mph (40 km/h) that made hiking hard. And that's when I realized we had been very lucky. We wouldn't have been able to hike our U circuit had the wind been just "mild"...it'd have blown me right off the boulders on the first day. Despite clouds and snow, this third time in Chile more than made up for the other two. So much so that I will likely come back.